Thought Leader Security Champion Award - This award, which recognizes the person who has made the biggest impact in raising awareness and educating others on Mobile and IoT security in the last 12 months, has been presented to industry veteran Bruce Schneier. Bruce is an internationally renowned security technologist and author of 14 books, as well as hundreds of articles, essays and academic papers. Schneier is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, a fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He is also a special advisor to IBM Security. Bruce paved the way for other cybersecurity executives through his deep understanding and expertise in mobile and IoT security. By uncovering and illustrating vulnerabilities on such platforms, Bruce raises awareness for individuals and enterprises.

“There is no doubt that Mobile/IoT security vulnerabilities are real, and traditional computer and network security tactics simply are not prepared to mitigate such risks,” said Bruce Schneier. “We must recognize the security landscape created by Mobile and IoT devices, and work to implement solutions that challenge the status quo. We’re on the right path with companies like Arxan, and I’m pleased to receive their Security Champion Award.”

End User Security Champion Award - This award, which celebrates individuals whose efforts have demonstrated the greatest results in terms of driving Mobile and IoT security initiatives within their companies, has been awarded to Velibor Mandic and Florin Birsan of SecureKey Technologies. At SecureKey, Velibor serves as a client development manager, while Florin is the mobile team lead.

Velibor and Florin are focused on providing exceptional user experiences for SecureKey’s Authentication and Identity mobile SDKs and applications, without compromising security. Their sophisticated understanding of desired end-user experiences, paired with security design expertise and secure coding techniques, allows SecureKey to integrate security throughout the development process. Through their deep dedication and robust understanding of customer needs, Velibor and Florin are proven thought leaders within their company and beyond, reshaping the way enterprises consider security standards internally.

“As the leading identity and authentication provider that simplifies consumer access to online services and applications, SecureKey understands the importance of addressing security in all aspects of business, from product inception to implementation. That’s why mobile and IoT security plays such a critical role in our business,” said Patrick Engel, SVP of Product Development at SecureKey. “Our goal is to provide an ecosystem for customers to manage their digital assets, and we’re continuously looking for ways to expand upon our security success, and build toward a more secure future. We’re pleased to have Velibor and Florin recognized for their ongoing efforts and look forward to continued success and collaboration with Arxan in the future.”

This awards program is part of Arxan’s awareness efforts surrounding National Cyber Security Awareness Month, which is celebrated every October. Established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance and now in its 13th year, National Cyber Security Awareness Month was created as a collaborative effort between government and industry vendors to ensure that individuals have access to the resources needed to remain secure online.

“We are proud to have Bruce, Velibor and Florinas as our Security Champion Award winners,” said Mandeep Khera, Chief Marketing Officer of Arxan Technologies. “It was a hard decision to pick from many deserving nominees, but we felt that these individuals have made the greatest impact within their respective categories. The recent massive Mirai botnet attack, which leveraged IoT devices, illustrates the dangerous times we are living in. More serious attacks are expected at various threat vectors in the coming months, so we appreciate all the efforts by individuals who are helping to spread awareness.”

About Arxan Technologies

Arxan is the trusted global leader of Application Attack Prevention and Self-Protection products for Internet of Things (IoT), Mobile, Desktop, and other applications. We help protect our customers against financial loss, brand damage, fraud, IP theft, stolen credentials, fraudulent transactions, unauthorized access, non-compliance with regulatory and industry standards, and more. Our unique patented guarding technology 1) Defends applications against attacks, 2) Detects at run-time when an attack is being attempted, and 3) Deters attacks to stop hackers, send alerts, or repair making customers’ applications truly resilient. We are currently protecting applications running on more than 500 million devices across a range of industries, including: financial services, automotive (connected automobiles), healthcare (connected medical devices), digital media, gaming, high tech/independent software vendors (ISVs), and others. The company’s headquarters and engineering operations are based in the United States with global offices in EMEA and APAC. Learn more at www.arxan.com.